


Time's Arrow (Conclusion)

by obviouslyelementary



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: Angst, Canon Temporary Character Death, Data gets scolded, Family, Family Drama, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Feelings, Found Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Season 5/6 Episodes 26/1, Time's Arrow, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, everyone loves data, family love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:34:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24980038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/obviouslyelementary/pseuds/obviouslyelementary
Summary: After the events of Time's Arrow, when Data gets killed and then brought back, the elite officers want to have a chat with their friend.(Or: Data was selfish towards his friends and he needs to get scolded by a very warm and fuzzy older brother Riker)
Relationships: Beverly Crusher & Data, Crew of the Starship Enterprise & Data, Data & Deanna Troi, Data & Geordi La Forge, Data & Jean-Luc Picard, Data & William Riker, Data & Worf (Star Trek)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 41





	Time's Arrow (Conclusion)

**Author's Note:**

> This episode made me feel too much about the others in relation to Data so I needed a conclusion better than the episode gave me.

Once they were all back in the Enterprise, once the alien's cavern had been destroyed and the captain had returned safely from the past, Data truly believed that life would return to normal, to their usual solving of problems, exploring space making contact with new space discoveries.

However, before he could even return to his post, he was called for a meeting at the observation room, and headed over there with no questions asked, believing it to be a meeting to talk and discuss about their findings and experiences.

But when he made his way inside, instead of having the officers sitting on their chairs as usual, they were all gathered at one end of the table, standing up, and they turned to him once he came inside, looking at him in silence.

After a long moment, commander Riker gave the others a meaningful look, receiving a nod from all other elite officers, and stepped forward towards Data, eyebrows furrowed, appearing angry.

"Data, we have to talk" he said, and Data simply looked at him, nodding.

"Of course commander" he said, only now seeming to notice how Riker towered over him. He did not have feelings, but if he did, he was sure he would be feeling frightened.

"Data... this mission was hard on everyone. Do you know why?" he asked, and for what Data could tell, he was speaking as if he was talking to a child. Data was not a child. However he did not find the time appropriate to correct his commander.

"There are many reasons to explain as to why the mission would be difficult for any of the officers sir. Would you like me to list them?"

"No" Riker said, holding his hands behind his back. "No, Data, because I will tell you why it was so difficult for us okay?"

"Very well" Data said, giving him a small nod. After a deep breath and a sigh, commander Riker turned away from Data, beginning to pace in front of him.

"When we found your head back on Earth, we were all affected by it in some way. Most of us were upset, or confused, and I personally was angry. So, so angry that I couldn't even explain it Data. Deanna believed that it had something about remembering me of my eventual death, but I knew that wasn't it. No, I'm prepared for death. But it angered me so much, to know you would die... and I couldn't figure out why, until a few hours ago" he said, still pacing, but stopped to turn his head and look at Data. "Do you have any idea why I was so angry Data?"

"I believe it could be fo-"

"Because I realized there was nothing I could do to avoid that from happening" Riker said, cutting him off. Data closed his mouth, still watching the commander. "I saw your head there and I knew that I would not be able to stop it from happening, because it had already happened. And if it had already happened, it was just a matter of time until it happened in front of my eyes. I realized that your future was traced, and there was absolutely nothing I could do that would have stopped it from happening. And I was right. Even though you are standing right here with us, you did die, your head exploded off your body and I watched it. And believe me, I was just as angry when it happened as I was when we first found your head."

Commander Riker then stopped pacing around, all the rest of the personal in the room completely silent, and he turned to face Data again, walking up to him, standing face to face with him. He eyed Data, up and down, and then shook his head, turning away from the android and looking out of the window.

"Sometimes I forget you are an android Data. That you don't have any feelings. It is something completely impossible to imagine, for a human, or a betazoid, or a Klingon. Not having feelings? Emotions? Finding the thought of death comforting? It's... something completely out of our nature, Data. I don’t expect you to understand, but it's the truth. And when we forget that you are not like us, it becomes hard to deal with how carelessly you act."

"Commander-" Data tried, but Riker turned around and rose his hand.

"I'm not finished" he said, firmly, angry even, and Data could not recall a single moment when commander Riker treated him so harshly. He turned back to Data, facing him. "You are not one of us. You remember everything with the precision of a computer. You can access memories as if you are living them at this very instant. You don't feel pain, you don't grief, you don't mourn, and you do not, and don't correct me on this, do not see your own life in the same value as we see our own. To you, your propose on life is to learn, to evolve, to understand. Being useful to you is just part of the job. If the ship doesn't have something good enough to produce a stable field, don't worry, Data has it. If we have to go through thousands of volts to get somewhere, don't worry, Data's body is made to function after being electrocuted. If someone is in danger, don't worry, Data can risk himself to help them even if that means getting parts of his body destroyed. Data doesn't feel pain. Data doesn't have feelings. Data doesn't care about how his friends feel when he is hurt, when he is turned off, when he is about to die, when he is dead. Data is an android, designed to be better and more efficient, designed to use himself when others cannot be hurt. It is truly martyr work Data."

"Sir-" Data tried again, but Riker rose his hand.

"I am not finished!" he said, and this time he almost yelled, making Data perk and tense up. "Do you know how much we suffered when we found your head?! Do you know how painful it was for us to know you would be killed?! No, you don't, because it is illogical isn't it Data? You are alive, you are well, standing in front of us as if nothing had happened. Guess what pal, we didn't know this would happen. For all we knew, one of our best friends would be dead, now, in a few days, in years, who knows? Who cares? You would be dead and we wouldn’t be able to save you" he sighed, and rubbed his temples, before looking at Data again. "When we beamed down and didn't call you, you were against it. You convinced the captain to allow you to go down and see everything for yourself. You were taken, we had to come after you, and you died, just like you were supposed to. I bet you love it, don't you? Fulfilling your destiny? Finding out you are as destructible as all of us?"

"Will..." Data whispered, because this time, William had tears in his eyes. His anger had turned into sadness, and Data did not understand, but he was beginning to.

"You are selfish Data. You are selfish, because you think that the only thing that matters is how you don't feel. What about us? What about your friends? We were all sad and angry and confused when we found your head. We were desperate when you were taken to the past. We have known each other for years! We are friends, we are family! I see you as my younger brother, someone I want to help understand the world, someone I want to protect. To me, it doesn't matter that you don't feel, that you can punch me and send me flying off, that you can defend yourself from almost anything, it's human nature to want to protect one's family. And when you look at your decisions only by your point of view, you are selfish, and you are mean, and you hurt others. You hurt us Data. Deeply. And this is what this meeting is about. We want you to understand that you hurt us, and promise us that you will at least think of us next time you want to do something stupid that will get you killed."

Data was at a loss of words. He truly did not know what to say. It was so much new information, about human costumes, about humanity in general, about himself and about the people he considered friends. Analyzing his actions he realized he indeed had acted selfishly. He realized he had hurt his friends without meaning to, and that did not settle well with his programming. And if he had hurt his friends so much, as much as William implied he did, he would not be able to fix his mistakes.

He opened and closed his mouth several times, trying to come up with an answer, but he had none, not yet. And realizing that, William sighed softly and walked to him, tears still in his eyes, but a smile on his face.

"Fine, take your time. I don't want to short circuit you" he said, and then wrapped his strong arms around Data in a tight hug. The android was surprised, but responded the hug, and soon more pairs of arms were surrounding him. As he looked over commander Riker's shoulders, Worf and the captain smiled at him, the only two that did not take in the embrace, and he gave them a nod, understanding that he could talk to them for questions about his behavior.

But with William's, Beverly's, Deanna's and Geordi's arms around him, Data truly felt what humans could only describe as loved.

He did hurt them, and he recognized it, but their love for him did not diminish. In fact, it seemed to grow stronger.

And perhaps he was learning too, how to love them in return.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are always appreciated.


End file.
